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General Philatelic/Gen. Discussion : The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

 

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Guthrum
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18 Oct 2017
02:18:42pm
Here are some useful tips for deciphering the Cyrillic alphabet, as used on Russian stamps (and also Serbian and Bulgarian).

Most Cyrillic letters on stamps are in upper case capitals, which makes things easier - there is a cursive ('handwritten') alphabet which is tricky, but not so often used. We can divide the letters into groups, as follows:

1. Letters which spell the same as ours.

A E K M O T. No problem there.

2. False friends. They look the same as ours but sound different! Be wary!

B C H P X. Get to know them: they are very common. They are pronounced:

V S N R H

The X is an aspirate H (a bit like the Scottish loch).

3. Greek letters.

Image Not Found

D F G L P

Do you collect Greece, or remember the letters from school? If so, these are easy, but otherwise you'll have to learn them.

4. Common Cyrillic letters which don't give much of a clue as to what they say.

Image Not Found

B I U ya zh ch yu
sh ts shch

Reading along the top line, the first one is a B (a sawn-off B, but easily confused with V).
Next is the reverse N, which is very common - it is an I.
Then there is what looks like a Y, but which is pronounced like a U.
The reverse R is quite common, but is pronounced 'ya' - it is a sort of vowel.
The magnificent six-legged letter is that most common of Russian sounds, the 'zh'.
The upturned h is a 'ch'.
The combination i-o is pronounced 'yu'.

Finally the three on the second line, which all make similar sounds.
The first (three prongs) is a 'sh'
The second (two prongs and a tail) is a 'ts'
The third (three prongs and a tail) is a 'shch'.

There are a few other letters in the Cyrillic alphabet, but they are not common and we shall ignore them here.

Using the above, you might try writing 'pochta' in Cyrillic - a word often seen on Russian stamps. 'SSSR' (the Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik) will look familiar if you write it.

Try writing 'Lenin' or 'Pushkin' - two of the most frequently seen names on Russian stamps. When you are more confident, go for 'Vladimir Putin', or 'Yuri Gagarin'!

I hope this helps those of you who collect Russia or the other countries that use the Cyrillic alphabet. With a bit of practice it does get easier!




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Ningpo
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18 Oct 2017
02:32:30pm
re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

Thanks for posting this Ian. An excellent potted guide, which will undoubtedly help me.

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TribalErnie

18 Oct 2017
05:25:52pm
re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

Excellent post Guthrum. I had absolutely no clue about the Cyrillic alphabet. Makes a little more sense now. Thank you for sharing.

Ernie

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lemaven
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18 Oct 2017
10:17:35pm
re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

Ian. I'm in total agreement with Clive and my ol' buddy Ernie. This post is really helpful.

As I was reading this and then looking at some older Eastern European stamps they sounded out so nicely phoenetically that figuring out where they originated was much easier.

I'll have to try this out on my glassine full of "Stamps to Identify" this weekend. Probably 80% are Cyrillic.

Dave.


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Ningpo
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20 Oct 2017
06:55:49am
re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

Who wants to test their new found knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet?

Here's a grotty image posted on a Facebook forum. I've rotated the original (posted vertically using one of those mobile phones ?????):


Image Not Found

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nigelc
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20 Oct 2017
07:23:49am
re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

Nice challenge Ningpo!

This is from Rezhitsa in the Vitebsk guberniya, now Rezekne in Latvia.

The second letter on the Rezhitsa label and postmark is the letter yat which had a "ye" sound and was one of the old letters eliminated around 1917.

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Ningpo
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20 Oct 2017
10:17:20am
re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

Well, it's good to know we are in agreement.

The next part of the challenge is to explain why Wiki states that Rezhitsa is in Bulgaria.

Secondly, why is there a London FS registration label affixed?

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nigelc
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20 Oct 2017
11:24:49am
re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

"
The next part of the challenge is to explain why Wiki states that Rezhitsa is in Bulgaria."



Hi Ningpo, That's strange. Do you have a link for this?

When I search for it I get a redirect to Rezekne.


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Ningpo
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20 Oct 2017
11:29:15am
re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

I don't anymore. But I went direct via Google from the Cyrillic translator, and got this:

?????? : Razhitsa is a village in Ruen Municipality, in Burgas Province, in southeastern Bulgaria.

Note the different spelling. I tried to use the 'Vit' part of the postmark but that didn't work, probably as it was an abbreviation.


Edit:

The posting software now won't let me paste in the Cyrillic name. Why?

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nigelc
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20 Oct 2017
11:29:33am
re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

"Secondly, why is there a London FS registration label affixed?"



I can't read the address but it appears to be in London so I guess the British label was applied when received to make it clear to local staff that it was a registered item.

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Ningpo
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20 Oct 2017
11:34:23am
re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

"I can't read the address but it appears to be in London so I guess the British label was applied when received to make it clear to local staff that it was a registered item.
"



I have never seen that done before.

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nigelc
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20 Oct 2017
01:00:54pm
re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

"?????? : Razhitsa is a village in Ruen Municipality, in Burgas Province, in southeastern Bulgaria."


Razhitsa in Bulgaria is spelt with a hard sign as the second letter.

"Secondly, why is there a London FS registration label affixed?"


There appears to be a VALEUR DECLAREE label at the top left of the cover and maybe this was the only non-Russian indication that it had been registered apart from the numbered label.

You often see a large R within a circle of dots or a label with a capital R or Russian Z.

The crossed blue lines were added after the LONDON FS label was applied.

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Ningpo
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20 Oct 2017
01:06:51pm
re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

Thanks for the education Nigel.

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nigelc
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20 Oct 2017
01:10:44pm
re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

"The posting software now won't let me paste in the Cyrillic name. Why?"



Yes, this is frustrating. I guess the software only accepts single-byte characters.



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Author/Postings
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Guthrum

18 Oct 2017
02:18:42pm

Here are some useful tips for deciphering the Cyrillic alphabet, as used on Russian stamps (and also Serbian and Bulgarian).

Most Cyrillic letters on stamps are in upper case capitals, which makes things easier - there is a cursive ('handwritten') alphabet which is tricky, but not so often used. We can divide the letters into groups, as follows:

1. Letters which spell the same as ours.

A E K M O T. No problem there.

2. False friends. They look the same as ours but sound different! Be wary!

B C H P X. Get to know them: they are very common. They are pronounced:

V S N R H

The X is an aspirate H (a bit like the Scottish loch).

3. Greek letters.

Image Not Found

D F G L P

Do you collect Greece, or remember the letters from school? If so, these are easy, but otherwise you'll have to learn them.

4. Common Cyrillic letters which don't give much of a clue as to what they say.

Image Not Found

B I U ya zh ch yu
sh ts shch

Reading along the top line, the first one is a B (a sawn-off B, but easily confused with V).
Next is the reverse N, which is very common - it is an I.
Then there is what looks like a Y, but which is pronounced like a U.
The reverse R is quite common, but is pronounced 'ya' - it is a sort of vowel.
The magnificent six-legged letter is that most common of Russian sounds, the 'zh'.
The upturned h is a 'ch'.
The combination i-o is pronounced 'yu'.

Finally the three on the second line, which all make similar sounds.
The first (three prongs) is a 'sh'
The second (two prongs and a tail) is a 'ts'
The third (three prongs and a tail) is a 'shch'.

There are a few other letters in the Cyrillic alphabet, but they are not common and we shall ignore them here.

Using the above, you might try writing 'pochta' in Cyrillic - a word often seen on Russian stamps. 'SSSR' (the Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik) will look familiar if you write it.

Try writing 'Lenin' or 'Pushkin' - two of the most frequently seen names on Russian stamps. When you are more confident, go for 'Vladimir Putin', or 'Yuri Gagarin'!

I hope this helps those of you who collect Russia or the other countries that use the Cyrillic alphabet. With a bit of practice it does get easier!




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like this post.
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Ningpo

18 Oct 2017
02:32:30pm

re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

Thanks for posting this Ian. An excellent potted guide, which will undoubtedly help me.

Like 
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TribalErnie

18 Oct 2017
05:25:52pm

re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

Excellent post Guthrum. I had absolutely no clue about the Cyrillic alphabet. Makes a little more sense now. Thank you for sharing.

Ernie

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Members Picture
lemaven

18 Oct 2017
10:17:35pm

re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

Ian. I'm in total agreement with Clive and my ol' buddy Ernie. This post is really helpful.

As I was reading this and then looking at some older Eastern European stamps they sounded out so nicely phoenetically that figuring out where they originated was much easier.

I'll have to try this out on my glassine full of "Stamps to Identify" this weekend. Probably 80% are Cyrillic.

Dave.


Like 
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likes this post.
Login to Like.
Members Picture
Ningpo

20 Oct 2017
06:55:49am

re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

Who wants to test their new found knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet?

Here's a grotty image posted on a Facebook forum. I've rotated the original (posted vertically using one of those mobile phones ?????):


Image Not Found

Like
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this post
Members Picture
nigelc

20 Oct 2017
07:23:49am

re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

Nice challenge Ningpo!

This is from Rezhitsa in the Vitebsk guberniya, now Rezekne in Latvia.

The second letter on the Rezhitsa label and postmark is the letter yat which had a "ye" sound and was one of the old letters eliminated around 1917.

Like 
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Members Picture
Ningpo

20 Oct 2017
10:17:20am

re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

Well, it's good to know we are in agreement.

The next part of the challenge is to explain why Wiki states that Rezhitsa is in Bulgaria.

Secondly, why is there a London FS registration label affixed?

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nigelc

20 Oct 2017
11:24:49am

re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

"
The next part of the challenge is to explain why Wiki states that Rezhitsa is in Bulgaria."



Hi Ningpo, That's strange. Do you have a link for this?

When I search for it I get a redirect to Rezekne.


Like
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this post
Members Picture
Ningpo

20 Oct 2017
11:29:15am

re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

I don't anymore. But I went direct via Google from the Cyrillic translator, and got this:

?????? : Razhitsa is a village in Ruen Municipality, in Burgas Province, in southeastern Bulgaria.

Note the different spelling. I tried to use the 'Vit' part of the postmark but that didn't work, probably as it was an abbreviation.


Edit:

The posting software now won't let me paste in the Cyrillic name. Why?

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
nigelc

20 Oct 2017
11:29:33am

re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

"Secondly, why is there a London FS registration label affixed?"



I can't read the address but it appears to be in London so I guess the British label was applied when received to make it clear to local staff that it was a registered item.

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this post
Members Picture
Ningpo

20 Oct 2017
11:34:23am

re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

"I can't read the address but it appears to be in London so I guess the British label was applied when received to make it clear to local staff that it was a registered item.
"



I have never seen that done before.

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this post
Members Picture
nigelc

20 Oct 2017
01:00:54pm

re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

"?????? : Razhitsa is a village in Ruen Municipality, in Burgas Province, in southeastern Bulgaria."


Razhitsa in Bulgaria is spelt with a hard sign as the second letter.

"Secondly, why is there a London FS registration label affixed?"


There appears to be a VALEUR DECLAREE label at the top left of the cover and maybe this was the only non-Russian indication that it had been registered apart from the numbered label.

You often see a large R within a circle of dots or a label with a capital R or Russian Z.

The crossed blue lines were added after the LONDON FS label was applied.

Like
Login to Like
this post
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Ningpo

20 Oct 2017
01:06:51pm

re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

Thanks for the education Nigel.

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this post
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nigelc

20 Oct 2017
01:10:44pm

re: The Cyrillic Alphabet - some handy tips

"The posting software now won't let me paste in the Cyrillic name. Why?"



Yes, this is frustrating. I guess the software only accepts single-byte characters.



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